The Brand New Ask Jim Lewis Thread

Hello Jim! TogetherAgain here with a curiosity regarding your opinion on teddy bears and Muppet correlations to the ownership thereof. I refer, of course, to examples such as Fozzie owning a teddy bear in Muppets Take Manhatten (and The Great Muppet Caper, if I remember correctly?) and Gonzo having a very well-worn teddy bear in the first season of The Muppet Show that almost leads to Fozzie leaving... And, NATURALLY, to the fact that this particular Muppet fan has over forty teddy bears.

Also, if you happen to have any contact at all with the sane world, could you please ask, on my behalf, why they INSIST on making sense when it's so much more profitable to make dollars?

I know that I've already asked something, but I have another question. This can either be sent next time around if not now. And I hope it isn't too personal, but here it goes...

Do you think that the Muppets would work well in a weekly half-hour narrative series? I'm talking about a regular series in which the characters don't put on a show, and don't include short sketches. Something that would have a plot narrative each week, maybe occassionally having the Muppets put on a show, but not like on any of the Muppets previous series where each show took place almost exclusively during the time of the show.

Rather random little question, wondered if you've ever heard of the MC Muppeteer fan clubs entitled BBB, SSS, SWAEHB, or DADA? And if Bill, Steve or Dave know that they have some delightfully mad fans out there who very occasionally and *ahem* harmlessly plan kidnapping them because they are so awesome?

Beauregard asks..."Why rats? Surely they should be concidered filthy disease-carrying critters, and yet within the Muppetverse they are cute, money-making, hungry critters. Is the fact they should be there a part of their appeal?"Why rats? Why NOT rats? If you cut them do they not bleedÉand file workman’s comp claims and sue for unsafe conditions? You bet they do! To me, the Muppet rats epitomize the spirit of self-preservation. They do their job, but don’t want an award, they just want to get it over with and go back to carrying disease and filth, preferably at a high-priced Tahitian resort. theprawncracker asks/says..."Hola Jim! Ryan "theprawncracker" here talking to jou in a Pepe voice, hokay. I was just wondering what jou t'ought of de high gas prices, hokay. It seems like someone like jou would have some sort of somet'ing to say about d'em. If not... what do jou look for in a woman and where should I send de ones looking at me?"A common misconception. While I, Jim Lewis, have upon occasion provided Pepe with talking points, I am neither capable nor authorized to respond to such a question by Pepe or his representatives. As for the part about women, my wife would kill me, so I ain’t touchin’ that one either, okay. Beauregard asks..."Is J.P. Gross truely dead? He left the Muppet Theatre to the Muppets (lucky, concidering he could have left it to Scooter who would probably have turned it into an organic coffee house!), but is he dead, or hibernating?"Dead? J.P. Grosse? I think not. Highly exaggerated and all that. Why, compared to Statler and Waldorf, he’s a mere child. No, I suspect the whole “dead” rumor was spread by his competitors or scurrilous writers seeking to please a network. J.P. rules! minor_muppetz asks..."I've read that you are one of the writers of Mupet Sing-Along: It's Not Easy Being Green, and I assume that you helped write "The Best of Mupets Tonight" episode of Mupets Tonight. So, when writing a compilation/ clip show, is it easy for you to write clips into the scripts, or do you just write the script, and let other people decide what clips will be included?"The clip show! A time-honored tradition brought on by the fact that a show must deliver a certain number of episodes each season, and what better way to meet that goal than by cannibalizing what you’ve done before. The audience likes it. The performers like it. And the writers who get to go home early REALLY like it. First, various segments are nominated by those who’ve had the nerve to watch every show. Then, or perhaps simultaneously, the writing team sits down and tries to come up with a clever way to put these clips togetherÉsomething that provides an enticing throughline, but doesn’t require a lot of new production. A flashback is always funÉ.or entering a time machineÉ.or saying “hey, here’s a bunch of clips we’re pretending you asked to see”. Whatever works. Then it’s all put together and everyone is happy. I hope. Beauregard asks..."Will we see Muppets driving vehicles again soon? Sure, there was the tour-bus in 'Muppets' Wizard of Oz', but I'd love to see something akin to Dr Teeth in the Electric Mayhem bus, or Beau in the taxi again." He also says... "Loving the elevator clips on the website. Truely inspired."The Muppets will drive again just as soon as they get through the line at the DMV. Watch this spaceÉ.As for the elevator bits, I agree. And more, I dare intimate, are heading to a floor near you. Beaurgegard asks..."Do you know/can you speculate, on why Gonzo made no mention of his beloved, Camilla, in Muppets From Space? He was overly concerned about leaving his friends, but made no mention of his loved one. Any thoughts?"I can neither speculate nor understand why he didn’t mention Camilla, and to say any more about this would be to open a can of wormsÉand the next thing you know, Lew Zealand is bringing his Boomerang Fish over for lunch.TogetherAgain asks/says...
"Hello Jim! TogetherAgain here with a curiosity regarding your opinion on teddy bears and Muppet correlations to the ownership thereof. I refer, of course, to examples such as Fozzie owning a teddy bear in Muppets Take Manhatten (and The Great Muppet Caper, if I remember correctly?) and Gonzo having a very well-worn teddy bear in the first season of The Muppet Show that almost leads to Fozzie leaving... And, NATURALLY, to the fact that this particular Muppet fan has over forty teddy bears.

Also, if you happen to have any contact at all with the sane world, could you please ask, on my behalf, why they INSIST on making sense when it's so much more profitable to make dollars?"Ahhh! Funn-ee! Sense! Dollars! Wocka wocka! Gags Beasley is copying that one down furiouslyÉ..As for the Teddy Bear issue: I love ‘em. Got many of them myself, including a well-worn, much-loved, torn-and-tattered-and-mended bear namedÉuh, Teddy. (Okay, so I wasn’t clever with names when I was in a crib. Sheesh!) As for Muppets having Teddy Bears: why not? Except it always begs the question of whether these Teddy Bears can talk, to which I must answer – only if they’re members of SAG or AFTRA.

Beauregard asks...
"Also, Jim, Prawnie wants to ask if you can help him with his trigonometry for his test tomorrow.

While I'd like to ask about biographies! You mentioned at one point that there might be some ideas floating around for more Muppet biographies. Any news in that regard?"I have no news on biographiesÉ.And if I ever find out who invented trigonometry, I’ll throttle them. (Wanna help?) minor_muppetz asks...
"Do you think that the Muppets would work well in a weekly half-hour narrative series? I'm talking about a regular series in which the characters don't put on a show, and don't include short sketches. Something that would have a plot narrative each week, maybe occasionally having the Muppets put on a show, but not like on any of the Muppets previous series where each show took place almost exclusively during the time of the show."Yes.
I’ve always wanted to answer a long question that way. But to answer you in full: Sure. It would have to be the right mix, a strong situation, and a reason for Muppets to be there (even if we never explain why they’re there), but I’d love to see it. In fact, many a pilot never shot or appreciated that was set at an ad agency. You don’t happen to own a network, do you? Super Scooter asks...
"Did you write the video menus for the Muppet Show DVD sets? (Including the upcoming Season 3 set.)"I think I did. Sometimes they don’t tell me what it is I’m writing. If you liked it, I wrote it.
Beauregard asks...”Rather random little question, wondered if you've ever heard of the MC Muppeteer fan clubs entitled BBB, SSS, SWAEHB, or DADA? And if Bill, Steve or Dave know that they have some delightfully mad fans out there who very occasionally and *ahem* harmlessly plan kidnapping them because they are so awesome?”I have never heard of these fan clubs, but would love to know more. As for the planned abductions, I never much care for them and will not tell Bill, Steve and Dave who are already uncomfortable around me as it is.

I just realised that Jim Lewis did some writing for the game Muppet Party Cruise, so my next question concerns that project. Were there any mini-game ideas planned or pitched that ended up not being included, as well as appearances by any Muppets who ended up not being in the game (while I'm glad that Digit was brought back for this game, Dr. Phil van Neuter could have easily hosted the Short Circuits game instead, for example)?

Jim Lewis, this is theprawncracker here again with yet another question, and this time-- THIS TIME, I will be addressing you from the guise of Sam the American Eagle. Now, Mister Lewis, I implore you, what on earth made you want to write jokes and--and--other things for these weirdoes? The Muppets are not tactful, cultural, or any weird combination of the two. Unless you, Mister Lewis, can argue the case the the Muppets are, indeed, cultural, I have made an agreement to perform the song... "Milkshake" which, if you do not mind me saying, sounds very sweet. ...Uch! Now I am punning! Answer me if you can, Mister Lewis, just be forewarned that if you cannot, I shall report you to the federal administration beureau of unscrupulous loveably obnoxious underwhellming scoundrels. Or, as they prefer to be known, F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. That is all.

I thought I would bump this back to life! There where not many questions so I had a few questions of my own I wanted to ask Jim. These are about KSY, and I think you will enjoy them.

1 The boy with the last name Henson giving Kermit a hand. Was it hard to find a kid that looked like Jim, and was there many pictures of Jim as a young man to go by?

To be honest, we didn’t really go for someone who necessarily resembled Jim as a boy. In fact, I don’t remember seeing any pictures of Jim as a boy. The idea was that, in our story, there was this magical meeting between creator and creation. The actor we chose just seemed to emanate a certain “Jim”—ness: a sweet disposition, a look of wonder, a sparkle in the eye.

2. Whenever Kermit talks about who Jim was he says something like "He was a guy who was always hanging around and giving me a hand." Jim was much more then that to Kermit and the Muppets. I guese to me Kermit should show Jim more respect if you know what I mean. Is it hard to write about the Muppets Kermit especially when talking about Jim?

We’re walking the tightrope here. In the grand scheme of things, Kermit (and the other Muppets) don’t really “know” who Jim (and the other performers) are and what they do. So the idea is to dance around the connection – and let the audience fill in the rest. It’s like a Cezanne landscape: you know the rest of the village is there, but it’s not necessarily on the canvas. Only we try to be funnier than Cezanne, who I believe was notorious for his inability to tell a joke.

3. After Kermit Swamp Years was there ever any thought of doing more storys like that with some of the other Muppets like Fozzie or Piggy?

Not really. The opportunity to do Kermit’s back story was a treat, but going back in time for each of the characters would have seemed like a stretch. Oh, we’ve intimated who and what they were “before they met Kermit,’ but sometimes mystery is better. Which reminds me of a joke Cezanne used to tell….Ahh, maybe next time.